28/05/2026

Upgrade To-Do

Production Planning Reset suggested.

  • Set Stages to Queue where applicable
  • Add Buffer Hrs
  • Redo Shifts and Assign to Staff and Stages

Before Upgrade

  • Drop custom Procedures/Triggers that use table STAGESTATUS.

After Upgrade

  • Redo Shifts to be single shifts only.
  • Link new Shifts to Staff and Planning Board Stages.
  • Update Stages:
    • Set Type = Queue in Groups
    • Set Buffer Hrs - NB for Outwork.

Enhancements

Bank Import - The Import options have been moved from a Submenu to a static submenu to make them always visible.

Attachments can now be deleted from any module (Previously you were only able to delete Attachments from the module where they were added.)

Transactions - Landing Costs - The Landing Cost field is no longer displayed in the Allocate From transaction. An additional option has been added: Manual - this allows you to manually update the Landing cost field.

VAT Reconciliation - Data Pipelines have been added:

  • VAT_Sum_TransTypes
  • VAT_Sum_VATTypes

Weighbridge - Columns have been added for Pallet Qty and Pallet Weight.

Shifts (WorkShifts) Enhancements

  • The module has been renamed from Workshifts to Shifts.
  • The recommended protocol for setting up Shifts has changed to be structured around Staff rather than production stages. This change allows you to accurately measure Actual Hours worked vs. Scheduled Shift Hours per employee.
  • A Code field has been added for use in the Planning Board. Blank Codes are populated as SHIFT1, SHIFT2, etc. by the upgrade script.  General usage will be Code|WeekHrs (e.g. DAY|40, NIGHT|40).
  • Each Shift must be setup for a calendar week. And the Shift items can be used to allow for breaks (e.g. For a Day Shift, you can add items for Morning and Afternoon for each weekday).
  • A Rebuild Shifts button has been added. This button will rebuild the WORKSHIFTSCHEDULE table. (PS: It rebuilds automatically after changes have been made to shifts.)
  • Tech Note - An HOURS field has been added to WORKSHIFTSCHEDULE. (The table that publishes actual shifts by date.)

Timekeeping Enhancements

A Menu (button) > Views > Summary (Staff) view has been added. Useful for managing staff timekeeping on a daily basis.

A Shift field has been added to Timekeeping records. When a Timekeeping record is created, the field is assigned from the Shift linked to the Staff member.

A Shift filter has been added to the Default and Summary views.

The Timeline view (Formerly Dashboard) has been updated to prevent overlap when the Start and End Times of timekeeping records are the same.

Reminder: The Date Filter is applied to Start or End date of timekeeping record.

Estimating Enhancements

An Action > Reorder Items has been added - Executing this action will re-order Assemblies, Materials and Services as follows:

  • Top - Assemblies: Will maintain their current order.
  • Middle - Materials: Will be sorted by Category, Subcategory, and Description.
  • Bottom - Services: Will maintain their current order.

Production Planning Enhancements

Individual Tasks can no longer be moved to or from a Pending Status. The entire Job can be Released to Production or Removed from Planning (Set to Pending) instead.

Settings

The following setting have been removed (General Setting > Production Planning > Hide new Tasks from the Board View - by default, tasks with a New (Pending) Status are now excluded from Planning and the Board View.

A General Setting > Production Planning > Disable Scheduling has been added. Default = No. When Yes, all the date fields linked to Tasks as well as the scheduling actions are hidden.

The following Action has been removed: Job View > Set Tasks to Planned... - the new 'Reschedule...' actions set Tasks to Planned and the first task to Ready by default.

Stages Setup

Next Task Trigger (Previously Move Next to Ready) - By default, the next Status in an Assembly will be set to ready from the lowest assembly, moving up the tree, the options are now limited to:

  • Complete
  • Part Complete

Shifts - Multiple Shifts can now be linked to a Stage using a Dual List with columns for Available and Assigned. (Reminder: Shifts are personnel shifts - e.g. A double shift requires you to link 2 shifts.)

Team Size has been renamed to Resources.

A Buffer Hrs field has been added. This can be used for Outwork or for example, the drying time after a painting process.

Type: Queue - This type is a new option that has been added to identify which of the Stages in a Group serves as the queue from which tasks are assigned to the other Stages. When the Workstation is updated, the Stage is set to Queue if the selected workstation is the default.

Type: Production - You can now add multiple Workstations to a Stage to support the upgraded Groups & Tasks model. However, a Workstation can only be added to one Stage. (The link is on the STATIONS table - STAGEID.)

Status - The Status list for Stages has been fixed to simplify the planning process. The Status list and colours are the same as the previous Default Status list (Format: StatusID > Description):

  • 1 - Pending - Previously named 'New Job'
  • 2 - Planned
  • 3 - Ready
  • 4 - Busy
  • 5 - Part Complete
  • 6 - Complete

Note: 

The upgrade script updates the existing Planning Board Tasks based on the prior Status.DefaultID Status setting.

Pending and Complete Tasks are excluded from Planning & Scheduling.

Updated Actions

  • Job View/Job Edit View > Remove from Planning (Delete Tasks).
  • Job View/Job Edit View > Remove from Planning (Pend Tasks) - previously 'Set Tasks to New'.
  • Job View/Job Edit View > Release to Production - (Previously 'Set Tasks to Planned, first to Ready') - All the Tasks and Groups are set to a Planned or Ready Stage.
  • Board View > Actions (button) > Reschedule Production - This action will reschedule production from the first Stage. You can prioritise jobs in the first stage and then Reschedule Production to update all the cascading Stages accordingly.
  • Stages Popup Menu > Reschedule from selected Stage - This action will reschedule production from the selected Stage, for example after you have updated Priority. You can do the same for a Job from the Stage it is currently on and then reschedule from that stage.
  • A confirmation message explains the steps:
  • Moves all Tasks to a current date/time while preserving the sort order of the selected Stage.
  • Checks and removes cascading Job dependencies.
  • Adjusts the order of cascading Stages for a best fit while preserving dependencies.
  • Works around Locked and Busy Tasks.

Transaction Req. Dates & Due Dates

This functionality allows you to better manage the Sales Required Date and the Production Start and Due Dates, making it easy to see when a Job is going to be late.

The following Transaction settings > Production Planning > ... have been added to auto-assign these dates:

  • Sales Order Transaction - Set Req Date - You will be able to set the Required Date and view the Due Date - The Required Date will be updated on the Work Order (setting below). When enabled (On any transaction) this also disables updates to the Required Date in the Production Planning Module.
  • Work Order Transaction - Set Due Date - You will be able to set the Due Date in the selected Transaction and the Production Planning module and view the Required Date - The Due Date will be updated on the Sales Order (setting above).
  • Default: Due Date (Days before Req Date) - The Date will only be assigned if the field is blank.
  • Default: Start Date (Days before Due Date) - The Date will only be assigned if the field is blank.
  • Default: Material Procurement Date (Days before Start Date) - The Date will be updated when the Start Date is updated. If the Date is past, it defaults to the current date.

Note: 

  • A Past Due filter has been added to the Job View - this will display all the Jobs where the Due Date is past the Req Date.
  • When an SO is deleted, the Req Date on the linked WO is cleared, and vice versa.
  • There are multiple settings to set the Req. and Due Dates - ensure you have only assigned one setting for each date to avoid conflicts.

Groups and Tasks

Reminder: This model is enabled with General Setting > Production Planning > Enable Groups & Tasks.

Concept:

  • All the tasks in the same Stage are Grouped into 1 Grouped Task.
  • The Routing column, Board View and Task View only show the Grouped Tasks.
  • You can see Groups and Tasks in a tree view in the Job Edit View.
  • Tracking/Timekeeping is done at a Group Level, but you can set Status on Tasks in a Part-Complete Group - In the Tracker or in the Jobs Edit View.
  • You can't set Start/End Dates on a Task Level - they are auto-cleared.
  • You can delete Tasks in a Group. When the last task is deleted, the Group is deleted.
  • Changes to the following Group Status are cascaded to Tasks: Pending, Planned, Ready, Complete.
  • If Task is Complete or Part-Complete, however, it won't move back to a previous Status if the Group Status is updated.
  • You can update the Req Qty and the Est Hrs for a Task and it will be summed to the Group. You are also ale to edit these fields in the Group.

Tech Note: PBTASKS.LEVELID: Groups:  = 0; Tasks = 1.

Task Locking

A Lock column has been added to Tasks which allows you to lock the Start/End Dates of a Task. Batch update functionality has been added to quickly lock all the Tasks. Use Case: Scheduled Maintenance windows or fixing a job to a future date. The Scheduling algorithms will work around locked tasks.

Job Edit View

Tasks are now displayed in a tree view in one of following modes:

  • Components > Tasks - Ordered same as the BoM in the transaction. Empty components are not displayed.
  • Groups > Tasks - Groups ordered by Stage order and Tasks ordered by the BoM Order in the transaction.

The Stage column is no longer editable. If you need to change it, create a Group of Stages where you can drag-and-drop tasks between the Stages in a Group.

The Job Actions that were only available in the Job View are now also available on the Edit View.

A Lock column has been added with Batch Update.

Batch Updates - Status - You are now able to update the Status across all Groups and Tasks. (Previously you had to use the Next/Previous Action because each Stage had its own custom Status list.)

Job View

The following filter pairs have been added to replace the Show filter. If BOTH filters in a pair are selected or unselected, no filters are applied:

  • [x] Released [ ] On Hold- Released = Jobs with at least one Task/Group which is not in a Pending or Complete Status. On Hold = Jobs where Tasks/Groups have been added but they are still in a Pending Status. (This action is done with the 'Add/Update Planning' Action.)
  • [x] On Schedule [ ] Past Due - On Schedule: Due Date is <= Req Date and both dates have values and are >= Current date; Past Due: Due Date > Req Date or Due Date < Current Date or Req Date < Current Date.
  • [x] Tasks Done [ ] Tasks Live - Refers to Services/Tasks linked to the Job. Tasks Live - Jobs with a Task that is not Complete or Pending. Tasks Done - All the Tasks/Groups are Complete.

A Job Status hint has been added to the Status filters.

Note: You are no longer able to update the Req Date in the Job View.

Board View

The Pending tasks are no longer displayed in the Kanban View to prevent users from releasing parts of a job to production, instead of releasing the entire job to production.

The Completed column in the Kanban View now only displays tasks from Work Orders that are not Complete or Cancelled. (Previously it displayed all Completed Tasks, regardless of the Transaction Setting.)

Materials View

An editable Proc. Date column has been added including Batch Update functionality. The Date filter has been extended to include the Proc. Date. - Material Procurement Date.

The Proc. Date is also editable in the Work Orders Materials and Outwork View - Start Date.

Use Case: Scheduled procurement date.

Reminder: The General Setting > Default: Material Procurement Date (Days before Start Date) can be used to update it from the Job Start Date.

Tech Note: The VATITEMS.STARTDATE column is used.

Tasks View

An Hrs (Scaled) column has been added to show remaining hours scaled to the Stage's Resource allocation. Est Hrs - Act Hrs. Negative hrs are rounded to 0.

The Lock column has been added to the Task View with Batch Update functionality.

Dashboard View

A Staff view has been added. You are able to edit the Shift and Stage for Staff using Batch Updates. If the Shift linked to a Staff member is not on the linked Stage, the Shift column is highlighted in red.

Stages View - the Queue Stages are no longer displayed.

Active Jobs are now displayed in the Stages and Staff views:

  • Stages - Jobs containing a Task in the Busy Status.
  • Staff - Open Timekeeping records linked to a Staff Member.

The Loading chart has been changed to a Stacked Bar chart and displays the current loading from Pending to Part-complete Tasks. Note: You are able to filter on the Status Key to, for instance, hide Pending Tasks.

A Capacity by Stages chart has been added.

Capacity Chart

Filters:

  • Start/End Date - Works on the Job Due Date
  • [] On Hold - Displays Loading based on Pending Tasks. Unchecked by default.
  • [] Released - (Checked by default) Displays Loading for Production Tasks (Not Pending or Complete) - checked by default.

Capacity is calculated as follows:

  • Available (Hrs): Select total hours from Shifts linked to the Stage adjusted by Resource Count.
  • Loading (Hrs): Total Task hours less Actual Hours.
  • Groups are consolidated into one Stage. The Queue Stage is excluded from the Loading Calculation.
  • Capacity (Hrs): Available (Hrs) - Loading (Hrs).

Tracker > Timekeeping > Planning Board Mode Enhancements

Groups & Tasks Enabled

Only the Groups are available in the Queue. (Previously you selected Tasks inside the Group.)

Workstation - By Default, you now select from Workstations linked to the Group (Stage). (Previously you could select Workstations linked to the same Cost Centre.) Reminder: You can select any Workstation when 'All' is selected.

When you Stop Timekeeping, you are prompted to set the Status (If this step is enabled - see setting below):

  • Complete - All Tasks are set to Complete when you click Stop.
  • Part-Complete - Click Next to view and set the Status of the Tasks in the Group. Yellow = Ready; Blue = Part-complete; Green = Complete.

Setting Reminder: General Setting > Tracker > Timekeeping: Update Status.

Fixes

Fixed: Transactions - You were unable to add a custom Delivery Address unless you selected an Address first.

Better exception handling has been added to the Restore Grid functionality. (Previously the error gave no indication to the cause.)

Fixed: When a Customer was deleted, you were prompted to confirm a name change.

Fixed: Estimating - the Action to 'Delete Assembly and move child items to Parent Assembly' was not taking into account the Qty on the Parent Node.

Fixed: If a Transaction was enabled for two entities and a User was only enabled for the second entity, the user was able to create a transaction, but it would be linked to the first entity and the transaction immediately be set to read-only.